Electric grill



Oct. 7 1924. i

c. R. sTEENRo ELECTRIC GRILL Sheets-snee'. 1

Filed Feb. l2. 1923 lINV NTOR.

BY l f ATTORNEY.

C. R.- STEENROD ELECTRIC GRILL Filed Feb. l2 1923 2 Sheets-Sheer 2 Patented Oct. 7, 1924.

COURTLAND R. STEENROD, 0F DAYTON, OHIO.

ELECTRIC GRILL.

Application filed February 12, 1923. Serial No. 618,477.

To all whom 'it may concern.'

Be it known that I, COURTLAND R. STEEN- RoD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Dayton, in the county of Montgomery and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Electric Grill, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the class of devices known as electric grills and'my principal object is to produce a small ineXpensive grill to use for various purposes. It embodies various structural features which contribute to keeping the cost low, while producing a practical, well made and dun rable article. I have also given attention to the appearance of my grill, so as to make it attractive as well as good.

I shall now describe my grill, referring to the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a plan view of the finished article;

Figure 2 is a vertical section on line 2- of Figure l;

Figure 3 is a vertical section on line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4f is a perspective view of one corner of the article;

Figure 5 is a sectional view through one of the bars of the grate, taken on line 5-5 of Figure 3, and

Figure 6 is a view of the clip by which the members of the flexible conducting cord are held together.

The top of the grill is a grate, comprising a plate 10, and bars 11 and 12. Depending from the plate 10 is a flange 18 which skirts the entire top, and at its lower edge this flange is bent outward to form lips 14. The general form of the top is rectangular, but its corners are rounded, and at these corners the lip 14; is omitted. In other words there is a separate lip 111 extending along each rectilineal portion of the flange 13. The top is supported by` legs placed at each corner. The legs consist essentially of vertical strips bent to arcual form in plan, so as to fit snugly against the curvedy part of the flange, and secured thereto by bolts 16. A shelf 17 is attached to the legs by bolts at a point sufficiently below the top to permit a slice of bread to be laid on the shelf and toasted. This shelf also serves to stiffen the whole structure, and it acts as a shield to prevent damage by heat to whatever the grill stands on. The top is made from a single piece of sheet metal, formed as shown and described with dies. In forming an article of this kind, the rounded corners are liableto be wrinkled or otherwise imperfect or irregular. While this is avoidable it involves expense to avoid it. I have therefore made the legs of the form described, so that they entirely cover all of the portions which may be defective. Preferably the legs are given an artistic form by suitable curvature of the edges of the blanks from which they are made, and for the same reason these legs may be made to flare at their lower ends to form feet. A good idea of the aesthetic aspect of my grill may be obtained by inspecting Figure 4.

The top grate is formed by making eX- cisions in the plate 10, leaving strips of the plate to form the bars of the grate. In some cas-es, instead of cutting pieces quite out, a cut is made on three sides of a rectangle, leaving the excised portion united by one long edge to the plate, at which point it is bent down to a position substantially perpendicular to the plane of the plate. Referring to Figure 2 it will be seen that I have thus formed four perpendiculars, one at each end of the top, indicated at 20-20, and two intermediately, indicated at 21-21. These depending perpendiculars are used to support the heating element.

The heating element consists of a plurality of helical coils of wire, 22, and strips 23 of insulating material. The coils are'atcached to the two end strips 23, and the coils are of such length that they must be eX- tended slightly in the manner of tension springs to enable the end strips to be placed behind the perpendiculars 20, as in Figure 2. Referring to Figure 3 it will be seen that the two lower corners of the insulating strip, which is shown with dotted lines, are cut off and the resulting oblique edges beveled. The corners of the perpendiculars are bent up and over these beveled edges, thus -securing the insulating strip to the perpendicular. See Figure 5. The intermediate strips 23 are secured to the perpendiculars 21 in the same way,kand the coils 22 pass through holes in these strips. As shown in Figure 3 parts of the perpendiculars are cut away to prevent the coils 22 from contacting with the metal.' As usual in such devices the coils are connected together in series, but this, of course, is not essential. They might be connected according to some other plan without affecting the parts of the device relating to my invention.

Current is brought to the heating element by a iiexible cord 30, containing two conductors. @ne of these conductors is connected to each end of the heating unit, as at 3l and 82, Figure l, by suitable bolts which pass through the insulating strip 23. The portions of the cord adjacent to these connections are protected by a suitable fire proof covering, such as asbestos, in the form of a braided tube slipped on the c0nductors. The two conductors are then secured together by a metallic clip 33, which not only serves this purpose but also acts as a protector for the conductors and prevents the insulating covering from being worn olf where they pass between lthe top plate and the shelf. In order to give further stability to the conductors at their point of attachment to the grill l coat the braided lire proof covering with a. stiff'ening substance. For this purpose silicate of soda is satisfactory.

ll am awa-re that electric grills of the character here shown are not vnew and that my invention is not a broad one. But l have disclosed several novel and lvaluable structural features, which contribute to the strength, durability and appearance of my grill and l believe l am entitled to patent protection for these.

l therefore claim:

1. An electric grill comprising a grate formed by making excisions in a plate of sheet metal, leaving strips of the plate to form grate bars, one edge of the excised portions remaining united to said strips but being bent at the point of union to a position substantially perpendicular to the plane of said plate; and a heating element composed of wire supported by strips of insulating material, said strips being secured to said perpendicular excised portions of the plate.

2. An electric grill comprising a grate formed by making excisions in a plate of sheet metal, leaving strips of the plate to form g ate bars, one edge of the excised portions remaining united to said strips but being bent at the point of union to a position substantially perpendicular to the plane of said plate; and a heating element composed of wire supported by strips of insulating material, said strips being secured to said perpendiculars by bending portions of the latter around the former.

3. An electric grill comprising a grate formed by making excisions in plate of sheet metal, leaving strips of the plate to form grate bars, one edge of the excised portions remaining united to said strips but being bent at the point of union to a posi* tion substantially perpendicular to the plane of said plate, said grate being rectangular in form but having round corners. the entire grate being bounded by an integral depending tlange having an outwardly extend ing lip at its lower edge, said lip being omitted at the corners of the grate; legs therefor consisting of strips of metal bent to arcual form in plan, so as to lie against and cover the curved portions of the flange which is without the lip, and a shelf attached to the legs below the grate.

l. An electric grill comprising a grate formed by making excisions in a plate of sheet metal, leaving strips of the plate to form grate bars, one edge of the excised portions remaining united to said strips but being bent at the point of union kto a position substantially perpendicular to the plane of said plate; and a heating element coinpos d of wire supported by strips of insulating material, said strips being beveled at certain places and secured to the perpendiculars by portions of the latter bent over said beveled places.

5. An electric grill comprising a grate formed by making excisions in a plate of sheet metal, leaving strips of the plate to form grate bars, one edge of the excised portions remaining united to said strips but being bent at the point of union to a position substantially perpendicular to the plane of said plate; a heating unit composed of a plurality of helical coils of wire and strips of insulating material, said coils of wire being attached to the outside strips, which strips are placed, respectively, behind the end perpendiculars, thereby causing any tension the coils may have to press the strips against the perpendiculars, the coils passing through holes in the intermediate strips, portions of the perpendiculars being bent around the strips to hold them in place.

6. An electric grill, comprising a top plate and a shelf below, a heating unit therebetween, comprising helical coils of wire carried by insulating strips, means for supporting said strips, a flexible conducting cord connected to the terminals of said coils, non-combustible non-metallic covering for the portions of said cord adjacent to said connections, said covering being coated with a suitable substance after it is put in the place and position it is desired to have, whereby to make it rigid and enable it to keep the covered portions of the cord in position.

7. An electric grill, comprising a top plate and a shelf below, a heating unit therebetween, comprising helical coils of wire carried by insulating strips, means for supporting said strips, a flexible conducting cord connected to the terminals of said coils, non-combustible non-metallic covering for the portions of said cord adjacent to said connections, a metallic clip embracing the cord and said covering where it passes out from between the top and shelf, said clip practically fitting the distance between the top and shelf, so as to hold the cord substantially immovable, and a suitable chemielement suspended .therefrom by means 10 which leaves the lower as well as the upper part of the heating element exposed, and a plate below but sufficiently removed from said element to permit of a slice of bread being placed thereon, to be toasted while 15 some other article is resting upon the grate.

COURTLAND R. STEENROD. 

